Paris, as inventor of the Thaumatrope, could not avoid the temptation to have a little speech from the anonymous inventor, himself: “The inventor confidently anticipates the favour and patronage of an enlightened and liberal public, on the well-grounded assurance that ‘one good turn deserves another’; and he trusts that his discovery may afford the happy means of giving activity to wit that has been long stationary; of revolutionizing the present system of standing jokes, and of putting into rapid circulation the most appreciated bon mots.”
The Thaumatrope was advertised in the following way:
The Thaumatrope
being
Rounds of Amusement
or
How to Please and Surprise
by turns.
Through the characters of his “novel,” Paris then commented on the illusion of the persistence of vision which makes the Thaumatrope (and the motion picture) a reality. He discussed the whirling flame which appeared to make a circle; Homer’s reference to “long shadowed” spear; and the tail of a rocket.
Paris also described an improved model of the Thaumatrope. In this card device a center disk is allowed to change from one position to another as the whole revolves. In one illustration a jockey was on one side and a horse on the other. By tightening the strings as the card revolved the jockey appeared to be falling over the neck of the horse. In another an Indian juggler was represented as using two, then three and finally four balls. Other illusions indicated were a sailor rowing a boat, “a dandy making a bow.” Through the words of the vicar, Paris then warned, “I hope that, amidst all your improvements (in the Thaumatrope), you will still keep in view your first and most laudable design, that of rendering it subservient to classical illustration.”
It is certain that Paris developed the Thaumatrope, first, for scientific illustration of the persistence of vision, perhaps to better explain the phenomenon to one of his patients or students. But being a clever man, he immediately realized its commercial value and arranged to have sets of the cards made up and sold in London. Doubtless the chapter in his book on the Thaumatrope did much to increase the sale of the toys.
David Brewster (1781–1868), Scottish scientist whose work on the polarization of light led him to invent, around 1815, the Kaleidoscope—an optical instrument which creates and exhibits by reflection a variety of beautiful symmetrical designs in varied colors—was the first to comment in print on the Thaumatrope of Paris, the year before the latter’s book appeared. In the fourth volume of his Edinburgh Journal Brewster wrote, under the description of the Thaumatrope, “a very ingenious philosophical toy, invented, we believe, by Dr. Paris.” Brewster remarked that the circular disks should be 2½ inches in diameter and that the cord should be of silk. Brewster described the following Thaumatrope cards: Rose-tree and garden-pot, horse and man, a branch with and without leaves, woman in one dress and then another, body of a Turk and his head, watchman’s box and the watchman, Harlequin and Columbine, comic head and wig, a man asleep and awake, and the use of the cards for cipher writing. According to Brewster, “the principle of the thaumatrope may be extended to many other devices.” He also commented on the imperfections of the toy arising from the hobbling effect of irregular rotation. He suggested that a “solid axis of rotation is decidedly preferable and will produce much more pleasing combinations.”
Brewster himself was deeply interested in light and vision phenomena. Despite its original scientific purposes, his Kaleidoscope also was a popular toy. Brewster patented the toy in 1816 but it was pirated. Some 200,000 were sold in three months. In his Treatise on the Kaleidoscope, 1819, Brewster told it was discovered while he was testing the successive reflections of gold and silver plates. He also noted the application of the Kaleidoscope to Kircher’s magic lantern in order to bring the effects before a large audience at one time.
The invention of the Thaumatrope has been attributed to others besides Paris, despite the weighty authority of Brewster and Paris’ own book. Charles Babbage (1792–1871), English scientist and mathematician noted for his calculating machine and his campaign against noise (which he said robbed us of one-quarter of our working life), attributed the discovery of the Thaumatrope to his friend and classmate, John Herschel, the astronomer, (1792–1871). Babbage wrote in his autobiography that one evening Herschel spun a shilling before a mirror so that both sides of it could be visible—the Thaumatrope effect. Dr. William Fitton, Captain Kaster and Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766–1828) were told about the method and various Thaumatropes were made, according to Babbage, about 1818 or 1819. “After a lapse of some time the device was forgotten. Then in 1826,” Babbage wrote “during a dinner at the Royal Society Club, Sir Joseph Banks being in the chair, I heard Mr. Barrow, then Secretary to the Admiralty, talking very loudly about a wonderful invention of Dr. Paris, the object of which I could not quite understand.” Babbage then claimed it was his invention. At any rate, Paris and not Herschel, Fitton, Wollaston or Babbage, was the one to popularize the Thaumatrope.
In passing, it may be noted that at the time Paris was making the Thaumatrope well known Babbage was thinking about submarine craft: “Such a vessel” (a four-man submarine equipped for a 48-hour stay under water) “could be propelled by a screw and might enter, without being suspected, any harbour, and place any amount of explosive matter under the bottoms of ships.”